A question that has plagued many a gamer for many years, first the whole “Pay To Play” idea started with the MMORPGS, such as Everquest. Then came the GREAT service that is, XBOX Live. Now I own a PS3, but I’m willing to admit that Xbox live is YEARS beyond the PSN. But none the less, can it truly be justified, making us pay to use online services when it comes to games. One side says, it’s not fair that we have to pay to play online. Not only have we just paid 300 plus dollars for your system and 60 for the game, but NOW you’re wanting me to get a card that allows me to play online! That’s utter madness. But the other side of the war likes to say, such a great online service needs money to keep it up to par. That side may just have a good points; But either way, each side has solid points to there argument.
In my opinion, if you’re receiving such a great online service such as Live, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t want to at least pay 25 dollars every three months. Look at both systems online capabilities:
The Live service allows a very detailed description on what your friends are doing, some games even allow you to see what level, game types, or mission there on. Voice messages are as easy to send as snapping your fingers. In game chat is also a big feature, allowing friends to talk while playing other games.
Sony’s PSN service lets you see what game your friends are playing… nothing more. There is NO In game XMB bar (Cross Media Bar), so we cannot chat with our friends, nor can we send messages to each other in game. We have been promised a update, but have not received one yet.
For the type of service that the Xbox allows, I would gladly pay 30 bucks. It would make no difference to me. But I’m sure there are many people out there who would disagree with me. But to each his own, and I strongly stand by my thoughts on this subject.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
Yea to me live is worth each and every penny. Also thanks to the internet you can find 12+1 month xbox live cards for 25 bucks if you shop around.
A lot of people (Sony fans) say once in game XMB PSN will pass XBL but I have to disagree.
Besides universal in game messaging the other thing that bothers me about PSN is the system of third parties hosting the servers. Because of this we've seen major releases launch with broken multiplayer on PSN including (TF2, COD4, R6V2 and GTA IV).
Even the almighty MSG4 has been plagued with third party issues. People STILL can't register a Konami login a week after the game launched. This is AFTER the issues they had in beta. All of this is the result of depending on third parties. For me $1 a week is worth having a service that works. Also you should even HAVE to create another login to play a game... Should be universal.
Then there is movie rentals. I like the service. Its very convenient. I use it all the time. I know the Sony fans will preach the bluray is better is "true HD" blah blah blah. Thats true but its still nice to be able to sit on your couch and rent a movie anytime you want. Bluray is great too but you have to go to the store, pay $30 a piece or search online for a good price then wait for it to ship.
Thats my 2 cents. Good blog!
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I've had a gold account for years, so I agree that XBL has a robust set of features worth paying for. However I only really care about one feature and that is online multi-player.
I find the PS3's free online multi-player refreshing and if they add other features worth paying for, I will pay for them too. Just like I do with XBL
No...!